Difficult Love REMADE
by NaLu x Lyfe
Summary: Lucy has had feelings for Natsu ever since their first mission together, though he never really noticed. But, when Lucy starts to fall in love with Gray, Natsu learns of his own feelings for Lucy. NaLu. Rated T for occasional language. {BOOK 1: COMPLETED. BOOK 2: IN-PROGRESS}
1. Chapter 1

**Hellooooooooo there lovely people! Well, I most likely know what y'all are thinking. "Why is she re making a story she already made" WELLLL MY PRETTIES. I decided to take a trip down memory lane and read my first ever story, 'Difficult Love'. And the quality of the writing kinda saddened me. Though in my defense, it was made over the summer, without school. So now that I am in school, I decided rewrite it, to better fit all of your likings. And, I kind of dreamed up more small idea's to add to the story. I also am kinda doing a writing and drawing contest (Although the likeliness of me winning is very small) which will be done on wattpad. I liked the idea of this story, so i decided to rewrite it and make it better for the contest. So I didn't want wattpad to have a better written story then my hometown (AKA Fanfiction . net). aND ANOTHER THING FOr aLL oF yOU ChILDREN WhO alREADY READ IT, DONT YOU DARE THINK I FORGOT ABOUT YOU. There will be a certain surprise for you patient petunias at the end ;) *cough* sequal that somebody requested *cough*. SO. I do hope you enjoy this version much better, and I will shut up now.**

**Enjoy :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail...yet.**

It was a quiet morning, something Fairy Tail had gotten used to this past month. No fights had broken out, no overly loud arguments, just peace. It was February, so small flakes of snow could be seen falling out the guilds windows. This was the kind of morning that guilds older members had grown accustomed to, though they knew it was finally over when a cool breeze entered the hall when the doors were slammed open.

"With this kind of money, I'll be able to pay my rent for the next 6 months!" Lucy cheered happily, pumping her fist in the air. Team Natsu had gone on a month-long S-Class mission, but finishing it gave them twelve million jewel to split.

"We would've gotten the money a lot quicker if snowflake over here didn't get in my way." Natsu pointed his thumb towards Gray in a lazy fashion, eyes glazed with boredom.

"Are you kidding me? You would've died without me there!" Gray growled at Natsu, his fists tightening as he prepared one of the many fights that guild hadn't missed in the past month.

Natsu bashed his forehead against Gray's, gritting his teeth towards the raven-haired mage. "You wanna go ice princess?"

"Like you could beat me flame-brain!"

Their argument had slowly turned into a dust cloud of ice and fire, the occasional chair joining the battle. Everyone sighed, even Erza decided not to separate them. Lucy slowly strutted over to Mira, shaking her head in slight amusement as she went to order a strawberry milkshake.

She plopped down on a stool, and greeted Mira who was cleaning a glass.

"Welcome back Lucy! How was your mission?" Lucy smiled tiredly and looked up at Mira.

"Exhausting, I just really need a milkshake." Mira nodded with a smile, and dashed off to make one. Upon returning and handing Lucy her glass, Mira leaned towards Lucy in interest.

"So you guys made it back just in time for Valentines day!" Lucy smiled. Valentines day was one of Lucy's favorite holidays, full of love, roses, Mira's chocolates… But it was a reminder of the fact that she was single, though she was ready to change that. As if reading Lucy's mind, Mira grinned creepily.

"Do you have a date for the party?" A suggestive gleam shined and Mira's eyes, and there was no question why. Mira had been trying to fix Lucy up with Natsu ever since their first mission together. And even though Lucy had a small crush on her childish, yet handsome partner, he was too dense to notice and Lucy figured her little fantasy of them being together would never come true.

The blonde lowered her head in embarrassment and slight depression as she shook her head no. Mira's face instantly fell, looking even more depressed than Lucy. Lucy looked up though, a weak smile plastered on her face. "But I'm still going," Lucy's smile became slightly more genuine, "Even without a date, it might still be kind of fun."

xxxx

Lucy wandered around Magnolia, with her share of jewels from the last mission held tightly in her wallet. She entered just about every store there was, looking for a new dress for the dance later that night. Though she exited just about every store she entered, feeling less and less excited about going with each door she left from.

When she was just about to give up, walking slowly towards her apartment, her eyes wandered over to a store window that contained the perfect dress. It was slightly above knee length, a pale pink that fit to the little of the waist and then flared out. Sparkles completely covered the top of the dress, following the sweetheart neckline. Though they slowly faded out until there was no more sparkle where the dress flared. Lucy rushed in, and with her luck, they had one that fit her perfectly. Along with the dress, she bought a pair of sparkle-covered heels.

She rushed home, clutching her bag in her hand, with newfound excitement for the dance.

xxxx

Cancer styled Lucy's hair as she did her makeup, a little more than usual. Once finishing the final touches on her eyeliner, she looked up at the mirror. Her chocolate brown eyes met a face that was much too pretty to be her own. Her hair was dutch braided on both sides to the back of her head, which fell into a waterfall of curls, leaving her bangs and two strands of curls in the front. She looked stunning.

Lucy thanked Cancer, who bowed as she sent he back to the spirit world. She continued to stare at the mirror, until she caught sight of her clock through the reflection, telling her that there were 10 minutes before the dance started. Lucy quickly slipped on her shoes, getting ready to head out when she heard a knock on the door. Her heart leapt in her chest, hoping that it was Natsu. She quickly shuffled over to the door to open it, revealing Gray.

He was dressed in a black tux and a skinny pink tie. When he caught sight of Lucy, his eyes widened and he stuttered, eyes never breaking away from the celestial mage.

"Y-you look amazing Lucy," Lucy smiled, glad that she wasn't the only one that thought of herself as somewhat pretty right then.

"Why thank you Gray, you look great yourself." This caused Gray's already slightly pink cheeks to redden even more. He cleared his throat, and shot her a charming smile.

"Erza sent me to get you, and I'm quite glad she did." Now it was Lucy's turn to blush. As she was thinking over what he just said, he held out his arm towards her in a gentlemanly manner.

"Shall we?"

xxxx

Natsu and Happy walked alongside Erza towards the guild, picking at the matching suits she gave them to wear. Natsu looked at her, giving her a puppy dog look. "Why do I gotta wear this thing?" He whined, throwing his head back in emphasis. Erza shot a glare at him, a dark aura slowly surrounding her.

" 'Got to' Natsu, and if you don't like it, then maybe I can rearrange your organs in a way that would be a lot less comfortable than the suit you're wearing."

Both Natsu and Happy swallowed hard and looked away, not wanting to look at the devil woman any longer than they had to.

"She's scaring me Natsu…" Happy whispered, holding his stomach to make sure that Erza wasn't able to do _anything_ with his organs. Natsu nodded, warily glancing at Erza to make sure she hadn't heard what his partner said. But she seemed to be day dreaming, allowing Natsu to let out the breath he had no idea he was holding.

Slowly, they got close enough to the guild that Natsu was able to smell Mira's chocolates, making him forget all about Erza's threat. The sweet smell added a little hop to his step as the guild got closer and closer.

When they finally swung open the doors, Natsu's eyes were flooded with pinks and whites. There were balloons, streamers, and a large chandelier that hung on the ceiling. But Natsu didn't notice those things though, for he had his eyes locked on the table of food. He dashed over there, piling as much chocolate as he could onto his plate, while sneaking a few into his mouth. Finally, he settled at a table covered in a white tablecloth next to Juvia, who was staring intently at the door. Natsu shrugged off the weird vibe Juvia was giving and dug into his food.

About halfway through his plate, Natsu heard the guild doors slowly open. He looked up to see the stripper, who was holding the hand of someone who hadn't entered yet. Slightly curious to see who was stupid enough to go to this dance with Gray, Natsu's eyes lingered longer. But the curiosity was replaced with a sudden pain in his chest when he saw it was Lucy.

She slowly stepped in, a cute blush tinting her cheeks from all the eyes watching her. But Gray just smirked as he gently dragged her in. Natsu could feel a fever coming to his face as he looked at Lucy. Something about her just made his heart beat faster and he didn't know why.

Then Gray lead her to the dance floor. Natsu was able to hear the sound of rain slowly start outside, causing him to, out of habit, glance at Juvia, who was staring at the couple just as intently as he was. He glanced back, just to a sight that gave him another pang or two in his chest.

Lucy was so close to Gray. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and his arms were wrapped around her waist. He wanted to go up and punch Gray for being so close to his Luce, but why? That was a question he couldn't answer right then. He was too busy being angry at Gray and wishing that he could be in Gray's place instead.

The night droned on, Lucy and Gray dancing, enjoying themselves, as Natsu and Juvia stood watching, drowning in their own self misery. Finally, it came to the last song, a slow song. Lucy and Gray were even closer then before, leaving a sour taste in Natsu's mouth. He hated this. He hated it so much. Natsu tore his eyes away from the couple to look at Juvia. She was still intently looking at Gray and Lucy, when her eyes suddenly widened and brimmed with tears. The rain started to fall even harder as she jumped up from her chair and ran out the door, closing it with a slam. Natsu stared after her, slightly confused before returning his eyes back to Lucy and Gray.

He wished he hadn't.

Gray's arms had tightened around Lucy's waist, and Lucy's hands were intertwined with Gray's hair. But that wasn't that part that horrified Natsu the most. It was when he saw their lips, which were touching. He suddenly felt sick, very very sick. There was no way he could stay here any longer. Natsu called for Happy, who came from talking with Carla.

"Happy take me home."

"But Erza will kill you if you leave now-"

"I feel sick Happy, now please take me home."

"A-Aye Sir!"

Happy grabbed Natsu and flew towards the doors, exiting into the cool rain. But Natsu didn't notice. He couldn't stop thinking of Lucy and Gray together that night. The image of their lips _together_ like that kept replaying in his mind, each second making his chest hurt more and more.

_damn, damn, damn, damn, damn it! What's wrong with me?!_

**Alrighty guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I gotta say, I'm a lot more satisfied already. Expect a chapter very soon, (I mean, I already wrote this basically, so…) don't forget to follow, favorite, and review, aND I WILL SEE YOU NEXT TIME!**

**xx**


	2. Natsu's Downfall

**aND ANotHER CHAPTER! I have no school today. Wanna know why? BECUZ ITS FUJICKING -15 DEGREES OUTSIDE! As much I want to kill Chicago sometimes, the weather changes have been kinda okay for once. This time, it was 30 degrees outside for winter break, and then when we had to go to school, it became way down in the negatives :D. And while I'm at my Chicago weather stories, there was one day in May, when on Friday it was 80 and on Saturday it was snowing. That was a fun day. Anyway. Sorry. I am also sorry about the long time it's been since I updated, but believe it or not, something happened that I was almost positive wouldn't: I got writers block XD. AND. I'm still writing another story that has adoring fans *Flips hair*. aND I HAVE AN IDEA FOR ANOTHER STORY THAT I CAME UP WITH WHILE I WAS TRYING TO GO TO SLEEP SO ITS REALLY CRAPPY BUT THE THOUGHT OF THE ENDING MADE ME VERY SATISFIED. BUT IM NOT GOING TO WRITE IT UNTIL IM DONE WITH THIS STORY OR THE FAULT IN OUR FAIRY TAIL. But you guys are my adoring fans also so you deserce another chapter :p. But here you are, probably the crappiest chappie you'll ever get, so I apologize minna *bows several times*. BUT ILYSM AND THANKS FOR THE FOLLOWS FAVORITES AND REVIEW SO I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER BECUZ I. LOVE. YOUUUUUUUUU.**

**Disclaimer: I dUN OwN FaiRY taIL OKay?**

Lucy wasn't really sure how it happened. They were dancing, laughing, she was twirling, just enjoying herself throughout the night. And then they kissed. It was everything she imagined her first kiss being, just with the wrong guy._Even so… _She glanced up at Gray, who was looking off in the distance, a soft blush on his cheeks. He looked so peaceful, a state she didn't normally see him in. _I kind of...liked it. _Lucy mentally shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her head. But with each attempt, the memory of her and Gray's 'moment' replayed bolder in her mind, giving her a sweet feeling in her chest.

Her eyes slowly wandered back to Gray's face, which had a small blush tinting his cheeks. She smiled to herself and rested her head on his chest, wrapping her arms slightly tighter around his neck. _Maybe...Maybe I should just give up on Natsu…Maybe Gray is the one that I really love. _The little weight that had been holding her down lifted off her shoulders, to the point where she could've sworn she felt it, causing her to snuggle in a little closer to Gray.

He noticed this, and smiled to himself. He loved her, and he was unsure how he didn't see it before. Just like Lucy, the thought of their kiss continued to roll like an old movie clip through his mind, causing his heart to beat loudly. He was genuinely surprised Lucy didn't hear it. She was so close... At that moment, Gray knew he had to tell her. He couldn't hold it back. And if she didn't return the feelings, then...then… He was unsure right now. But he had to get it out nonetheless.

"Lucy…?"

She hummed in response, the sound making Gray's face even more pink. He leaned down, so that his lips tickled her ear and spoke very softly, so that only she could hear.

"I love you Lucy."

She looked up at him, her brown eyes at first glazed with curiosity. But then she smiled at him, and leaned her head back on his chest.

"I love you too, Gray."

For a second, Gray's heart stopped, before thundering in his chest even louder than before. She loved him! He had to use every muscle in his body not to jump and scream with joy. Gray swooped down and kissed her again, wishing anymore than anything that this night would never end.

.~*~.~*~.

Happy had constantly suggested that he went to Wendy, but each time, Natsu denied. Wendy was at the party with Romeo, where..._that _was going on. The 'thing'. The 'thing' that continued to play over and over in his mind, no matter how much he wanted it to stop. The 'thing' that made Natsu want to punch Gray until he was no longer recognizable. The 'thing' that reminded him of Lucy, and how she looked. He couldn't explain it, something happened when he saw her that made his heart want to blow up in his chest and a series of butterflies swarm around in his stomach. And he wanted it to stop. But at the same time, seeing her gave him this warm feeling that he didn't want to stop. Though it left as soon as she started dancing with Gray. Natsu unconsciously hissed, thinking of that stripper again, around Luce, _his _Luce.

Happy glanced down at Natsu's murderous expression, and he swallowed hard. The Exceed had never seen his best friend like this, and it was scaring him. A lot. He was about to suggest one more time that they go see Wendy, but then-

" WHY IS EVERYTHING SO CONFUSING!" Natsu shouted out to the night air, causing a group of birds to screech back. Natsu could hear the swoosh of their wings flying into the stars. Happy started to shake. His friend needed to get well soon, Natsu was almost acting as weird as Lucy. "You're scaring me Natsu...But we're almost there, okay?" Happy mumbled, low enough so that any normal person wouldn't have heard him, but Natsu could've easily picked up what Happy said if he wasn't lost in his own thoughts.

Even though Natsu didn't hear what Happy said, he was still able to hear him mumble something so he glanced up and looked around. Happy was dragging him down an empty cobblestone street, the occasional streetlamp shining light on a river. _River…? _Natsu then actually thought. This was the river Lucy always walked along to get to her house… _Stop thinking about Lucy! Everytime you think of Lucy, you think about how she looked, and how that made you feel, and what she did with Gray…_

"STOP IT!" Natsu screamed out again. Happy glanced down at Natsu, eyes wide in terror. But he didn't say anything. He just swallowed hard and continued to drag Natsu to Lucy's house.

.~*~.~*~.

Natsu didn't put two and two together, so he didn't realize they were going to Lucy's apartment until they actually got there. He mentally swore at Happy for taking him here, of all places. Happy flew Natsu and himself through the window that Lucy always kept unlocked, Natsu still grumbling to himself. But once Happy placed Natsu on Lucy's bed, and the smell of strawberries and vanilla filled up his nose, Natsu felt a sense of happiness and peace and he instantly fell asleep.

.~*~.~*~.

Lucy walked alongside the river towards her house, heels in hand and arms stretched out to keep her balance. Cold rain fell down on her, matting down her hair and making her makeup run. Gray had offered to walk her home, saying something about the weather, but she refused. She needed time to think.

A voice called out, snapping her out of her daydream.

"Be careful Lucy! One of these days you're gonna fall in!" Lucy laughed and responded to the two men riding in the boat with a simple 'I'm fine' before she continued with her thinking. Gray said he had loved her, and thinking about all of that night, she couldn't help but guess that she loved Gray.

_Gray loves you Lucy! Gray loves you! _The thought of it made her heart leap and her already pink tinted cheeks become redder. _Lucy Fullbuster… That does have a nice ring to it…. STOP LUCY! He said he loved you it's not like he's going to marry you! _But at the same time she could feel a goofy grin take up half her face, and she couldn't make it go away.

_There's no guess in it Lucy Heartfilia, you love Gray Fullbuster!_

.~*~.~*~.

Lucy cautiously stepped into her apartment after unlocking the door. The only light in the room was the tiny sliver of hallway light that came from the slightly ajar door. After deciding Natsu and Happy weren't inside, she stepped out of the little rainwater pool that she made and into her apartment. She closed the door and grabbed some towels for a bath.

After slipping out of her dress, she walked into the bathroom, shut the door, and turned on the hot water and light. Once the bath was full and the bubbles almost overflowed, she slowly slipped into the hot water that burned but soothed her skin. She dunked her head under, and upon rising, she felt even happier than she did before.

.~*~.~*~.

Lucy kept her lovestruck grin until the water grew cold. She stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel, walking back out into her very pink bedroom. The light from the bathroom shed onto the bed, where she made out a very human like lump. A lump that was about the size of Natsu. She stomped over, irritation seething through her.

" LUCYYY KICK!" She screamed, giving Natsu her infamous kick. But just before she made contact, she saw him sleeping. So peaceful. Seeing him like that, even just for a second, made her feel a sudden love for him again. But it was all forgotten when she kicked him and he flew into her window, and plopped on her floor.

"That's called breaking and entering y'know, which you could get arrested for!" A still half-asleep Natsu moaned and rubbed his head, the strong scent **(A/N: Is the S or C silent in scent? XD) **of strawberries and vanilla not helping him wake up.

"Owww...But Lucyy~" He whined "~Your bed is so much more comfo-" Natsu was suddenly awake when he realized where he was and who he was talking to. He looked up at Lucy, whose eyebrow was twitching from annoyance. Lucy who was only in a towel. Natsu winced at the thought of her and Gray again. Lucy's eyes instantly softened. Maybe she had kicked him a little too hard…

"You know Natsu, I'm sorry, you can stay if you want, I was just surprised and-" Natsu held up his hand to get her stop talking, looking at the wall across from her bed as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"I was just leaving anyway…" He mumbled. He got up, accidently seeing Lucy's hurt expression. Seeing it made Natsu feel like he was being stabbed in the heart, but he couldn't sleep with her, not when he was so sick. So he jumped out the window into the cool rain, leaving Lucy to stare after him.

**Gehehe I'm done. That little NaLu teaser is all you get, cuz that is all Natsu will get for a awhile now *Grins evilly*. Okai. Thats it. Ily. A lot. So don't forget to follow, favorite, and ****REVIEWW****, and I will see you next time loves!**

**xx**


	3. The Plan!

**HELLOOOO THERE LITTLE KIDDIES! I AM BACK WITH LE THIRD CHAPTER! I had only one day of school this week so take that suckers :p. But. I dunno. I just hope you enjoy this chapter. My blood sweat and tears were put into it and stuff. So yeah. Enjoy. Or else. But I love you. So I'll shut up now. So read!**

**Disclaimer: I do not under any current circumstance own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. **

Natsu walked through the cool rain, which had already soaked through his clothes. He didn't notice though, he didn't even see where he was going, and not because of the rain. The image of Lucy looking at him, looking so hurt, was all he saw. And each time he saw it his heart ached more and more. Maybe Happy was right, he should go see Wendy. _Happy...HAPPY! _Natsu's eyes widened, remembering that his furry friend was still sleeping at Lucy's apartment.

He sighed. Happy would be fine. There was no need to go back. Then he would have to see Lucy, though he wanted to so badly. He wanted to be with Lucy, hear her laugh, see her creepy grin. Yes, he wanted to be with her more than anything, but he couldn't. Being around her, _thinking_ about her, caused him to have butterflies and an overly hot fever come to his face. He was sick, _she_ made him sick. So until he got cured, he couldn't see her.

That thought gave him another pang to the heart. What was a day without seeing Luce? As he was walking through the cold rain, through his thoughts, he was able to sob. At first he thought it was just the rain, but as he continued walking, he heard the sob again, louder. Natsu dashed towards the noise, blindly running through the cobblestone streets of Magnolia. And then he smelled it. The saltiness of tears. He followed his nose, unable to rely on his eyes due to the rain, which brought him to the canal that Lucy always walked along, except much farther down the street. Natsu was able to make out the form of a figure and an umbrella.

He came closer, to see a woman with blue hair that curled at the bottom and a long black dress, the kind that you would wear to a party. Just like Juvia. Natsu crept over to her, and then yelled over the pounding rain that caused, by now, him to even shiver.

"JUVIAA? WHATT AREE YOUU DOINGG HEREE? YOUU SHOULDD BEE INSIDEEEE!"

Juvia looked up, her face covered in red blotches and her bloodshot eyes filled with hope. When she saw it was only Natsu, who kind of resembled a drowned pink rat, she looked down and wiped her eyes. "J-Juvia likes the rain…" Her voice cracked at the end of the sentence, and her eyes filled up with tears again.

"Well okay." Natsu plopped down next to Juvia, accidently landing in a puddle, but he tried to pretend he didn't notice.

"So why ya crying?" Juvia looked at him for just a second before bursting into sobs. _Shittttt! Way to go Natsu!_ "E-Eh I'm sorry! Don't cry! Er, Um," Natsu frantically tried to comfort her, but each attempt seemed to make it worse. So eventually, he just sat there, looking at both their feet dangling over the river. After a few minutes, Juvia calmed down, and looked out blankly towards the canal.

"Natsu-San?"

Natsu hummed, he was too busy thinking about Lucy again to speak.

"Does Natsu-San love Love Rival?"

Natsu broke out of his day dream, and looked up at her wide eyed.

"Love? Lu….Lucy is my nakama, I-"

"Because Juvia saw Natsu-san staring at Love Rival. Natsu-san looked jealous."

_Jealous…_ Natsu thought about the word for a minute. Igneel had taught him about it, just like Mira had taught him about love. But he couldn't remember the entire extent of the lesson now. Only how Igneel had said the selfish get jealous. And Natsu didn't really think of himself as selfish. Sure, he didn't want anyone, _especially_ the stripper, near Lucy, but that didn't make him selfish. Did it?

"I don't get jealous." Natsu huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Juvia smiled, a weak, sad smile.

"Juvia got jealous-" She paused for a moment, glancing at Natsu, "Juvia wanted to be Lucy. Juvia hated that Love Rival was with Gray-sama. And when Gray-sama kissed Love Rival, she was very jealous. And sad. And angry."

_So that's what it's called,_ Natsu thought to himself, _kissing._ And there his mind went again, bringing himself back to when Lucy and Gray kissed. He got two stabs this time, maybe because he now knew there was a name for it.

"How did Natsu feel? With them together?"

Natsu thought for a moment. How _did_ he feel. He was angry, yes, he was very angry. He felt hurt. And maybe, just a little bit, he felt jealous.

"I didn't want to take my eyes off Lucy." He sighed and looked down, butterflies entering his stomach once more. "Something about her made me want to hug her, hold her, be with her, maybe kiss her, a stronger urge than I've ever felt before. And...And… She makes me sick-"

Juvia was very confused for a second, until he continued to explain, "- Looking at her, _thinking_ about her, gives me a huge fever in the face, and like she put the butterflies in my stomach. And I never want to not be with her. But… Thinking of her with Gray… I feel like I'm being stabbed a million times in the chest, and it leaves this awful taste in my mouth and I just… I just want to punch him so bad and I can't explain it!" He took a deep breath, or more of a sigh, and then he looked at Juvia.

"Thats how I feel." He said, before looking back down at the canal. Juvia's eyes were wide in surprise and wonderment. That was a lot more than she had expected him to let out. But if anyone was going to be straightforward, it would be Natsu. He suddenly looked back up at her, his eyes suddenly pleading. "Do you know what kind of sickness I have? Some of the symptoms… I never want to go away-" Natsu thought of the butterflies and the occasional warm feeling he got when he thought of Lucy, "-And there are others I never want to feel again." The stabbing, the sour taste. He hated those things more than anything.

"Juvia knows what you have." She said matter of factly, looking at Natsu with calm eyes, where Natsu was suddenly very excited.

"Natsu-san is in love."

"I ALREADY TOLD YA I DON'T LOVE LU-"

"Juvia feels that way around Gray-sama Natsu-san. She knows what you have." Juvia looked down with sad eyes, despite the small smile that hung with a tinge of bitterness on her lips. Natsu looked down, that sour taste entering his mouth again.

"So what? Even if- I'm not saying you're right but- Even if I did love Lucy, it wouldn't matter. Luce loves the stripper not me." Natsu replied in an almost inaudible whisper. Saying those words, acknowledging the fact the Lucy loved Gray, gave Natsu another symptom: A stinging in his throat. That one went away relatively quickly, especially when he wasn't talking, but Natsu knew this wasn't a symptom. He had felt that 'throat sting' many other times before, especially when Igneel left him.

It meant he was about to cry.

Juvia noticed him clenching his jaw, meaning he was either angry or trying to hold something back. So Juvia lowered her voice, calmed it, in an attempt to calm him.

"Natsu-san has to tell Lucy how he feels. Then-" Juvia's gentle voice broke as a strange aura surrounded her and an evil grin took up her face. "-Love Rival will break up with Gray-sama, and Gray-sama will be all Juvia's…" Natsu ignored the new term 'break up' and focused more on not being freaked out by Juvia's evil cackle.

"Well what if Wendy tells me I'm just sick and I don't love Luce?"

Juvia glanced at Natsu, the calm smile back on her face.

"Don't worry. Juvia knows."

.~*~.~*~.

Natsu sat not so patiently on a bar stool, looking intently at the guild doors. Lissanna had already wandered over twice to see if anything was wrong, and Mira had offered food five times. But he told Lissanna he was just waiting for someone twice, and he told Mira he wasn't hungry five times. Those two weren't the only ones who noticed something strange about Natsu's behavior though, just about everyone in the guild, (Including Cana who was already extremely drunk over the 3 barrels of booze she had already downed.) noticed something was up. But everyone else stayed quiet, trying to continue with their normal activities but couldn't help a glance at Natsu every once and awhile.

To Natsu, it was weird not seeing Lucy, even if it was for only a few hours. But he was used to being with her 24/7, and he hated the feeling of being away from her, no matter how long. He was used to wake up to her cuddling up to him, trying to become warmer, or the smell of her baking him breakfast, or the feeling of just walking next to her to the guild. And even though he had only missed it for a day, it felt like it had been years.

Light and cold wind entered the guild as the doors to the hall were opened. Natsu hopped out of his stool, and sure enough, Lucy entered. But she was with Gray. Natsu could feel himself growling, and that urge to beat Gray up again when Natsu saw that Luce and Snowflake were holding hands. Lucy stood up on her tippy toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking off towards Levy, Cana, Erza, Lissanna, and Mira. There it was, that urge to punch him. But Natsu was here to talk to Lucy, not punch Gray. _Though that's on my list somewhere. _He thought bitterly.

Natsu sat there for a moment, staring at her, and all of his courage that he had built up while waiting for her suddenly vanished.

_You know…I think I'll wait 5 minutes…_

So he waited, staring at her, attempting to build up his courage that he had so much of before she walked through those doors. But his 5 minutes were up very quickly, and he knew he had to talk to her. Now. So he got up and slowly began trudging over to where the beautiful noise of his Luce's laugh could be heard. He smiled a little, seeing her so happy. He loved seeing Lucy happy. Natsu finally reached his destination, and he poked Lucy in the back. She whipped around, and seeing that it was Natsu, she smiled warmly.

"Hey Natsu! I was going to find you, sorry. Whats up?" Natsu could feel that fever coming again and all the confidence he rebuilt vanished once more. It was so hard to focus when she smiled like that. _You don't need to look at her… just talk to her_. Natsu thought to himself as his heart rate increased.

"I was...er...I...What i wanted to say was….I… I'm sorry for last night-" _Thats not what you wanted to say Natsu! Get your shit together! _"-And….I...Was-wondering-if-I-could-talk-to you-later. Alone?" Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"You don't want Virgo again, do you? Because if you do you can have her now-"

"No! I just need to talk to you." She smiled at him, making his face heat up even more.

"Okay, we can meet at my place later. See ya then Natsu," She grinned and turned back to her friends and started talking to them again. Natsu sighed. He should've just gotten it over with. He had no idea it would be so hard.

_Well tonight will be fun, won't it?_

**Mkay, I'm done. Everyone seems so OOC, don't you agree XD. On another note, I am now laying in bed with 50 layers of blankets contemplating whether or not to go and do P90X (My dad said I should after my first soccer practice of the season last night. I won't go into much detail, but it just showed how out of shape I am.) or start on the next chapter for you guys. I dunno. We'll find out later tho, won't we ;). Well that's it, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review, aND I WILL SEE YOU NEXT TIME BOOTIFUL CHILDREN!**

**xx**


	4. Confessions

**Thank you for your follow, favorites and reviews. This chapter is short, but important. Also, please remember this as you are reading it:**

**I love you minna. You love me. You do not hate me. You love me. I am your favorite author and you would never kill me. **

**I kind of forgot to give that reminder the last time i published this chapter and things did not get pretty for anyone.**

**So I love you.**

**A lot.**

**Enjoy this chapter, because I love you!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail owns me.**

_You love Lucy. You love Lucy. You love Lucy? Maybe Juvia was wrong, maybe you really are sick. Maybe you should go see Wendy first just to make sure and then-_

_**SMACK!**_

Natsu ran straight into a lamppost, to consumed with his thoughts to see that he had walked through three bushes, ran into 2 people and finally, ran into a lamppost, all of these things giving him strange looks from pedestrians walking by. The first lamppost woke him up a little, but it wasn't until the second one not 1 minute after running into the first that he finally observed the scene around him. Due to the sun, he had to squint, but sure enough he saw Lucy's little apartment about 50 feet ahead of him. He sighed, but continued walking, feet dragging slowly behind him as if he were a zombie.

Natsu didn't want to talk to Lucy. But he had to. He glanced up at the building that was slowly coming closer and closer, to the point where he was right under the window. And thats when the butterflies came in full swing, fluttering around his stomach like there was no tomorrow. Natsu felt nauseous.

_No backing out. You have to do this. Or do you? NO! You have to tell her. Now._

Natsu sighed inwardly once more before jumping and crawling up to Lucy's window. He slipped through the pane of glass Lucy always kept unlocked, to see her at her desk scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. Natsu cleared his throat, and Lucy shot up, holding her pen for dear life.

"HOLY SHIT NATSU! WHY CAN'T YOU USE THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!?" Natsu grinned out of habit, mentally preparing himself for the kick he would normally receive, but it didn't come. But his signature grin disappeared when Lucy's heaving chest did, and when she looked at him with her beautiful chocolate colored eyes. She leaned against her desk and smiled warmly at him.

Natsu suddenly wanted to be gone. Why did she have to make him so nervous? And why did she have to look at him that way...With her smile that made him feel all weird and those sparkling eyes that made his stomach do flips and turns. He didn't want to tell her. He didn't want her creepy grin to leave the face that he loved so much. But…

"Lucy...I...er...I love you Luce…" He whispered quietly. Lucy stared at him, wide eyed, shocked.

"You...You make me feel...like I have millions of butterflies, or like I'm having this huge fever whenever I see you look at me. Seeing you with Gray-" Natsu growled lowly, but Lucy heard it, and her eyes widened even more. "I just want to punch that fucking bastard." He finished in a hardly audible whisper. "You make me sick Lucy...Love-sick" And to conclude, he took small, slow steps towards Lucy, as if he didn't want to scare her. Natsu touched Lucy's cheek gently and leaned in towards her lips, eyes closed.

He felt a hand cover his mouth.

Natsu eyes shot open, to reveal Lucy's hand covering his mouth when he must've only been an inch from her own. Her golden bangs covered her eyes, trying to hide the brown sparkle that Natsu longed to see again.

And then he smelled it.

The saltiness of tears.

After all Natsu had been through, seeing Lucy with Gray, watching them kiss, feeling all of that heartbreak. All of it was nothing compared to seeing Lucy's entire body shaking, the frown her beautiful lips were turned down to, realizing he had made Lucy cry. Millions of stabs went through his chest, each hurting more than the last.

_You made Lucy cry._

"I-I'm sorry Natsu...I c-can't. She whispered, her voice hoarse as the fresh tears travelled down her face. And then she ran. Slamming the door, she ran into the streets of Magnolia.

Natsu stared after her. His onyx eyes looked hollow and emotionless. And suddenly, Natsu felt a bubbling anger inside of him. Not at Lucy, not at Gray, it was at himself. He whipped around and through a punch at Lucy's wall, leaving large dent.

"DAMN IT!"

Natsu through another, anger seething through every part of his body.

"WHY DID I HAVE TO FUCKING MAKE LUCY CRY?" He screamed, louder than ever before. And then he collapsed onto her soft bed, Lucy's sweet smell filling up his nose in attempt to calm him.

"Why did I have to make Lucy cry?" He whispered, voice cracking and hoarse as he stared at his hands. His knuckles started to bruise from the punches, but he didn't feel it. The pain that he felt inside was too strong for him to be able to feel anything else.

And then something caught his eye. The paper that Lucy had been writing on slowly floating down to the ground. He got up, and staggered over to the paper that had Lucy's perfect bubbly writing on it. Natsu picked it up, and, even though this part was unplanned and he knew he shouldn't, read it.

It said:

_Dear Mom,_

_Hey Mom, how's heaven? Things are doing pretty okay down here, in case you were wondering. Remember Gray? I think I told you about him before. But anyway, he was my date to the Valentines Day Dance at Fairy Tail, and I may have possibly had my first kiss! So things have gotten better. I have to admit, I think I'm falling for Gray. But, still, there's still a place in my heart for Natsu, for now anyway. I wish he could've understood Mom, because I know no matter what, I think I may always love that dense idiot. But for now, I've moved on. And it was about time I guess. I love Gray now, and that's how it should be. Well, thats all I have for you mom. I know it's not much, but it's enough for me. I hope things are doing okay up there, I miss you._

_Signed,_

_Lucy._

**REMEMBER THAT YOU LOVE ME!**

**Also, PLEASE READ!**

**I understand this was a mean chapter. BUT your life will get better if you follow these simple steps!**

**I must receive at least 5 reviews.**

**Just review! I don't care if you've already reviewed, have something good to say, or even something bad to say! If I receive a minimum of 5 reviews I will give you guys a chapter that will cure your hearts a little before I crush them again. Fair nuff? If not, OHHHH KIDDIES. Just leave me 5 reviews to find in my E-mail inbox, okai :3? Okai.**

**I'm sorry for being evil.**

**I'm desperate.**

**I want to know really bad about how you guys feel about my story.**

**I'm sorry.**

**I love you.**

**You love me.**

**We're a happy family.**

**Who watches Fairy Tail**

**And hates Mashimaaaa**

**Lets all say you love me too.**

**xx**

**(P.S.) I just now as I was about to save this and post it came up with a NaLu cheer. It will now be our anthem, and it goes like this:**

**Na-Lu!**

**Na-Lu!**

**O-T-P!**

**O-T-P!**

**LETS GO NALU! LETS GO, LETS GO!**

**DO YOUR BEST,**

**BEAT ALL THE REST,**

**CAUSE YOU'RE TEAM NALU,**

**YES! YES! YES!**

**Mkay. Bye. Ily.)**


	5. Decisions

**Hey there loves! guESS WHAT? Instead of 5 reviews, I received…**

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**A WHOPPING 5! WOO! I LOVE YOU! (The same number, I know. I didn't actually think I would get 5 tho.) *Plue dances on the table*. ANd I'm terribly sorry for blackmailing you minna *Retreats to corner and sobs quietly.* bUT YOU CHILDREN DO STILL GET SOMETHING. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS? A REPLY TO THE 5 REVIEWS I GOT THAT I WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN IF IT WASN'T FOR MY BLACKMAIL SO IT ALL WORKED OUT! I'm still sorry though. aND YOU DID ALSO GET A HAPPY CHAPPIE! KILLING TWO BURDS WITH ONE STONE YOU GUYS DID! Okay. Here are my replies to your beautiful reviews!:**

_**Fairytail-lover1934**__**:**_

**I'm so glad you love it! And as you can see I updated x3. But I've read all of your stories (well, one. And I'm only 3 chapters in. But close enough.) And I love your stories so much, and it honors me to have someone of your talent like my story :D. So thanks :3. I love you perfect *insert heart emoji*.**

_**LiveTheAnime01**__**:**_

**Heh, I didn't think anyone who read the original would read this one x3. So thanks, I am so glad you love it and me, but what can I say *flips hair*. And thanks for your feedback on Natsu emotional moment, I was kinda unsure about putting that in there but you made me feel better about it. So I love you, I have loved you for a long time now I guess XD, ever since the innocent days of my first ever story on Fanfiction . net… *looks off dreamily in the distance*.**

_**Random Reader:**_

**I thought my NaLu cheer was good… *returns to corner so I can sob quietly*. But I would put Juvia in slap mode but-**

**Juvia: "Juvia doesn't want to be selfish, Juvia want's Gray-sama to be happy! But once Love-Rival gets her paws off of Gray-sama, *dark aura…*" **

**Me: "This is my story, back off punk! But yeah, kinda what Juvia said."**

**I never thought I would be that person. Damn it. But trust me, Gruvia comes soon :D. Just not in this chapter. But look forward to it. And thank you Random Reader, I love my story too (^U^)/). (And I love you of course.)**

_**Aniya:**_

**Hey der Aniya! I'm sorry I made you cry :/. But I hope this chapter made you happy, because I love you :3. And I will try, but I'm only a good writer under pressure, like now. Though seriously, my other stories suck XD. But you should still read them. BUT I LOVE YOU BOOTIFUL DUN CRY SMILE BECUZ UR NOT FULLY DRESSED WITHOUT A SMILE. Okaii? Okaii. The fault in our Annie.**

_**riahsparks**__**:**_

***laughs nervously*, Life is harsh? heh. heheh. heh. Sorry dude. This chapter is less harsh though, and le NaLu is starting to flow in :D. And, I am a dork. I am a proud dork who is amazing at NaLu cheers, *cough* Take that Random Reader *cough* and who is also queen of le dorks. doN'T YoU dARE let anYONE tell you otherwise. Cause then they are lying to you and themselves. That's very bad. I should stop talking now, I am starting to sound kinda stupid. But I love you and I hope you love this chappie! :D.**

**Okay, thats it. I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed **_**before **_**my blackmail, Ily2 my fingers are just hurting now so I want to stop typing. Maybe another day…**

**Alrighty, I'm done. Thank you for your follows, favorites, and reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I pledge allegiance, to the Fairy Tail, in the town of Magnolia in Fiore. And to the Mashima, for which we stand, only he owns, this Fairy Tail, not me, for liberty and justice for all! **

…

**Maybe I shouldn't make parodies to the U.S.'s pledge of allegiance either. Maybe.**

Lucy dashed through the cobblestone streets of Magnolia, each step a slap for her bare feet on the sun bathed ground. And it hurt. Though it was her own fault for forgetting shoes on her mad dash out, and dashing out in the first place to be honest. And she deserved it. Damn did she deserve it. As she ran aimlessly, Lucy actually thought about the past events. And then she realized how she should have looked into Natsu's weird behavior instead of ignoring it.

_**Flashback**_

Lucy was dancing, everything else in the world seemed to disappear. She was enjoying herself a lot more than she thought she would tonight. Though as Lucy was twirling, she caught sight of something that at the time, she hadn't really noticed. It was Natsu. His onyx eyes were locked on her, and there was an unexplainable anger that filled up the dark orbs. And...Jealousy? But Lucy shook it off as nothing, and she continued to dance.

It was much later in the night before anything happened again. It was when the slow dance came on. Lucy's arms were wrapped tightly around Gray's neck, and his arms held her waist. And then they kissed. Fireworks and angels sang in Lucy's head, almost loud enough to drown out the sound of the door slamming.

And then it slammed a second time.

Lucy was too busy kissing Gray to _really_ hear it, but looking back, she did hear it. She heard those door slams like warning bells. But she ignored those warning bells and pretended as if it was nothing. Though maybe if she hadn't brushed off those weird occurrences, then maybe she wouldn't be in the situation she was now.

_**End of Flashback**_

Tears clouded Lucy's vision, so now on top of not knowing where she was running, she couldn't help running into innocent passer byers as she continued to run to who-knows-where.

'_Natsu loves you Lucy! You've waited for this for so long! But now...Do you honestly love him back?' _Gray… He had his maturity, his mysterious nature, his kisses… Did she really want to give that up? But then there was Natsu, his stupid grins, his complete idioticness, his warmth...Did she really want to give _that_ up? Loving Natsu would be, _has_ been, difficult, but isn't that what love is? Willing to stay with them no matter how difficult that love got? **(A/N: KINDA SORTA TITLE DROPPPPPP)**

Lucy sobbed harder, ran faster, until her feet no longer met the numbing slap of hot stone but instead, the cool prick of grass. She suddenly felt the suns warmth leave her back, replaced with a cool end-of-winter breeze. Lucy looked up as she was running to see she had just entered a forest on the outskirts of Magnolia.

She continued to run until her feet wouldn't take her any farther. Then she slumped against a tree and held her knees close to herself, feeling like a little girl again. And then the tears came once more, the tears she thought she had finally ran out of. She tried to think, get rid of the tears that were now clouding her mind.

What she did to Natsu wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all. His hurt expression made Lucy want to cry all over again, but she had to focus. If she was honest with herself, Lucy still loved Natsu, a lot. And the more she thought about her continuing love for Natsu, the more it hurt her as she realized what she had done to him. But what she had with Gray was so… Perfect.

But that's what she loved about Natsu, his imperfections. Maybe her relationship with Gray wasn't built to last. Gray was sweet, and loving, but Natsu, well he was Natsu. Her goofy, loyal, strong, completely idiotic best friend. But he fought for what he believed in without a doubt and she loved him for it.

_But Gray…. _

Lucy succumbed back to tears, pulling her knees closer to her chest. She didn't even try to think anymore, she just let her emotions fall freely through the salt water that slid down her blotchy cheeks. And she felt guilty for it. Guilty that she was crying when she had the worst reason to be sad. Guilty that she had hurt Natsu so bad. Guilty that through all of it, she was still thinking about Gray.

"Lucy?" a voice growled at her.

Lucy jumped up and looked at the man who had spoken to her, eyes looking identical to saucers. Her brown orbs met dark ones that were filled to the brim with anger. His surprisingly sharp teeth were gritted, and his spiky hair did nothing to make him look any less menacing.

"Loke…" Lucy mumbled, "I didn't feel you come in."

He ignored her and continued in a surprisingly calm voice.

"What bastard did this to you?"

Lucy plastered on a fake smile and wiped away any evidence of tears, she hated it when anyone saw her like this.

"I-I'm fine Loke. Honestly. The sun was just really bright today and I-"

"DON'T ACT LIKE THERE'S NOTHING WRONG LUCY!' Loke lashed out, eyes flashing.

"YOU DON'T NEED TO PRETEND LIKE YOU'RE OKAY ALL THE TIME, BECAUSE WE KNOW WHEN YOU AREN'T! SO TELL ME WHAT'S FUCKING WRONG LUCY, WE ALL WANT TO SEE YOU SMILING AGAIN!" Lucy's eyes widened. Loke never yelled. Ever. Even he seemed a little surprised with his outburst, so he straightened his back and tie. He cleared his throat before continuing in a creepily calm voice once more.

"So who will I be killing today, Lucy?"

She stared at him for just a second before bursting into sobs again. The image of Loke killing Gray and Natsu was too much, and it would be all her fault.

"No- *sob*- It's my *hic* fault!" She yelled between her tears. Loke looked at her, sympathy and concern replacing the angry features on his face. He sat down next to Lucy and wrapped his arm around her shaking shoulders, pulling her closer so her head rested between his chest and shoulder. She greatly accepted his embrace and turned so her face was resting in the crook of his neck and her arm was wrapped around his torso.

"Lucy…" He said quietly. Loke hated seeing her like this. After all she had done for his spirit-mates and himself, he hated seeing her so sad. It was almost like he could feel her sadness. So whenever anyone, anything for that matter, made her sad, he wanted to break it until it would never be able to hurt his master ever again. **(A/N: If I didn't ship NaLu so much, I might ship LucyxLoke to be honest. That's all. Continue.) **

And then she spilled. Something willed her to do it, forcing the choked words out of her mouth, starting from the dance till now. Loke stayed silent the entire time, rubbing her upper arm to comfort her. By the time she was finished, her tears had finally subsided, but Loke continued to gently rub her arm, still feeling the presence of tears behind her eyes. And then, after not speaking the entire rant, Loke finally spoke up.

"Well, I don't know why you would go out with _either_ of those morons when you could have me," He ran his other hand through his hair, a gentle smirk playing on his lips, "But you should do what your heart tells you to do."

Lucy sighed. Isn't that what she had been doing this last hour, trying to figure out what her heart was telling her to do? And that obviously didn't work.

"I already tried that," Lucy mumbled, staring and playing with the emerald green grass that stuck out between her legs. Loke mirrored her sigh and looked up at the leaves, which had small rays of sunlight shining through them.

"Then lets try this: Who has always been there for you?"

Lucy thought for a second, but if she was honest with herself, "Natsu."

"Who has always comforted you?"

"Natsu.."

"Who makes you the most happy?"

"Natsu."

"And finally," Loke laughed, running his hand through his bronze hair once more.

"Who do you trust the most?"

"Natsu." Lucy replied, a satisfied glint in her brown eyes.

"Then I think we both know who it is Lucy," Loke said, a small, gentle smile playing on his lips. Lucy returned his smile, her depression suddenly gone. Deep down, she knew she loved Natsu, she knew she wanted to be with him. But she wanted to believe it was Gray. Though now she fully accepted how much she liked Natsu, no, how much she loved Natsu Dragneel, and she was ready to tell him and beg for his forgiveness. But there was one more problem standing in her way: What about Gray?

**Did you guys like this chapter? Do you forgive me for last chapter? *wags tail and sticks out tongue like a dog.* I HOPE YOU DID! Cause we still have 4 more chapters to go. Okay? Okay. I love you. A lot. ANDDONTFORGETTOFOLLOWFAVORITEANDREVIEWANDIWILLSEEYOUNEXTTIME!**

**(And don't forget to follow favorite and review and I will see you next time!)**

**xx**

**(P.S. I thought you guys should know that I meant to update the story yesterday but I only put it in the doc manager, I didn't actually post it XD. Well here it is now. That's all that matters.)**


	6. Operation! Make-Natsu-Not-A-Dense-Idiot

**Hey der minna! Sorry, this isn't another chapter hahaha….ha. sorry. ANYWAY! I decided it was time to have a little filler! So here we are, my crappy two part filler~**

**Expect the second part to come out in between the end of this story and the beginning of the sequal. Now. About this. This little story came into my mind as I was re-reading the manga and Lisanna came into Earthland. Cause is it just me, or does Lucy seem **_**realllyyyyy**_ **fake around Lisanna? Just a thought. I'll tell you more after this part is read cause if I keep on giving you what my inspiration was then I will spoil it. So, I am sorry this isn't the story, I needed a break XD. So here you are, my crappy filler, 'Operation! Make-Natsu-Not-A-Dense-Idiot!'**

**.~*~.~*~.**

**Title: Operation! Make-Natsu-Not-A-Dense-Idiot!**

**Summary: Lucy enjoying a day in Fairy Tail when Lisanna decides it's time to talk about Natsu.**

**Pairings: NatsuxLucy, Implied BixlowxLisanna, LucyxLisanna friendship, and MiraxLucyxLisanna friendship.**

**.~*~.~*~.**

"Hey Lucy!"

Lucy looked up from her strawberry shake towards the source of the voice. Her brown eyes met a certain flawless white haired girl, whose delicate hands were waving at her to come over. Lucy gulped. It was Lisanna. Something about knowing Lisanna was such good friends with Natsu… Bugged her. She didn't want to sound possessive or anything, but ever since Lisanna came back, Lucy felt overprotective of her best friend. The thought of losing him sucked. But Lucy tried, for Natsu's sake, to become friends with Lisanna. Though it almost felt awkward talking to her. It felt really fake. Nonetheless, Lucy slowly got up and quietly maneuvered her way around the yelling and series of brawls inside of the guild she loved.

She finally reached Lisanna without being even touched once, and Lisanna smiled at her, soft eyes twinkling.

"Impressive."

Lucy returned the smile, although hers was tight and forced, but good enough that Lisanna didn't notice.

"So what's up?" Lucy said timidly. Something about Lisanna made her feel slightly intimidated, despite the complete innocence of her baby blue eyes.

"I need to talk to you," Lisanna replied, shooting a glance at their loud guild mates. Her once soft features suddenly took a turn, and her face became more stern and serious. "Alone."

Lucy didn't like the sound of that, but she tried to be optimistic.

_Maybe she wants to go on a mission with you?_

_Maybe she just wants to work on being better friends?_

_Maybe…_

As Lucy followed Lisanna towards outside, she tried to think of reasons why Lisanna would want to talk to her alone. But all of them seemed perfectly fine to talk about in the guild. This made Lucy's mouth dry. _Maybe she wants you to get away from Natsu_. Her thoughts consumed even her sight, so she was much less graceful going to the doors of the guild hall. She managed to get bottle thrown at her, an accidently singe on her clothing from Natsu, and a completely stupid meeting with a table. No, the table didn't come flying towards her. She just ran straight into one.

Finally, she reached the doors, limping slightly from her injuries. As soon as Lisanna opened the doors, everyone stopped and looked at them. Everyone was completely silent, causing Lucy to flush from the sudden attention. But this only lasted for a second before the guild continued on with the loudness of what they were doing.

The girls stepped out into the brightness of Magnolia in the afternoon. Lisanna sat on a nearby bench and gestured to Lucy to join her too. Lucy reluctantly joined her, and they sat in silence for a moment before Lucy broke it.

"S-So what did you want to talk about?" Lisanna turned to her and smiled warmly.

"About Natsu of course."

Lucy froze. She knew it would eventually come down to this; two of Natsu's bestest friends 'talking' with each other. And Lucy was scared. Lisanna took note of this, and her smile became smaller but warmer. She turned towards the canal ahead of them, that little smile still playing on her lips.

"Remember back at Tenrou Island, when I told you to stay by Natsu's side because he's stronger with a friend near him?" Lucy nodded slowly, suddenly unsure of where this conversation was going.

"When I said that, I didn't mean just any friend, I meant you." Lisanna turned back towards Lucy, her eyes keeping a steady stare with Lucy's. "Natsu needs _you,_ Lucy. More than anything in this world." Lucy raised an eyebrow, but inside she let out a sigh of relief. This wasn't what she expected this talk to be about at all, but she was really glad she wasn't going to end up having a cat-fight with Lisanna. A literal one, on Lisanna's side anyway.

"But I thought when you and Natsu were kids, you guys were going to get married or something!" Lucy protested, pressing more information out of the white haired mage. Lisanna just laughed, to the point where tears were streaming down her pale cheeks.

"We-HAHAHAH-were-HAHAHAHHHH-k-kids!" Lisanna stated in between giggles. Lucy's face heated up from embarrassment. Lisanna was right. It was stupid of Lucy to assume they had been serious when suggesting it at the age of 9. But Lucy looked down as she bit her lip nervously, another idea forming in her head.

"I thought you had a crush on Natsu." Lucy mumbled quietly. Lisanna's laughter stopped abruptly, staring at the celestial mage.

"Me and Natsu? He's my nakama Lucy, nothing more." Lisanna confirmed, looking at Lucy with her empathetic eyes.

"Besides…" Lisanna looked in one of the guilds windows, a small blush tinting her cheeks as a certain helmeted mage came into view, his 'babies' chanting something. Lucy followed her gaze, smiling not only in understanding, but also in slight relief.

"Bixlow...Who would've thought…" Lucy said, smiling at Lisanna. Her face heated up as she instantly looked away from the window. "Anyway!" Lisanna quietly shrieked, suddenly in a very jumpy mood, "Back to the conversation!" Lisanna took a deep breath, in attempt to calm herself before looking at the blonde once more.

"A blind person could see it, Lucy. You and Natsu have a thing for each other."

Lucy's eyes widened before lowering them. She bit her lip anxiously, suddenly self conscious. She hadn't told anyone, not even Levy, about her crush on her best friend. And now, Lisanna is telling her everyone knows?

_I mean, _Lucy thought to herself, _I thought I was pretty good at hiding it. _

"But of course, being Natsu's friend of almost 17 years, I know he is a big dense idiot."

Lucy let out a free, comfortable laugh, a sound that got rid of any tension that still hung in the air.

"Tell me about it." Lucy said, a little smile still on her pink lips. But then her smile vanished, a depressed frown in it's place.

"But that's the problem," Lucy mumbled quietly, more to herself then to Lisanna. "How do you make a dense idiot realize you love him?" Realizing she had said that out loud, Lucy's head snapped up, eyes wide in embarrassment. "Er, I mean-"

"No, I get it." Lisanna said, smiling at the flustered girl in front of her. "I know. Which is why we are here today." Lisanna stood up, raising her fist up towards the perfect blue skies of Magnolia.

"Operation Make-Natsu-Not-A-Dense-Idiot!"

**Okay. Filler part one. Expect the next chapter to Difficult Love today too! Anyway, the second part of my inspiration, or, not really, my idea formed from opinion, is that I absolutely **_**hate**_ **the stories where Lisanna is a huge bitch who acts all innocent and tries to murder Lucy in order to gain Natsu's heart. Hate. Because I feel like Lisanna only likes Natsu as a friend, and Lisanna is most certainly not a cold hearted bitch. So there. That's it. I also kinda got this idea of a one-shot from the story 'Tales of Fairies' by ****RicardianScholar Clark-Weasley. You guys should read it, it's a collective of 196 one-shots (a lot of NaLu one-shots, but other awesome one-shots for other ships too.) and counting. So read it. It's amaze. Okay. I'm done. See y'all most likely later today. Love you. Bye bye.**

**xx**


	7. Things Just Got Complicated!

**Hey minna! Guess what? WE HAVE PASSED THE AMOUNT OF FOLLOWERS I HAD ON THE ORIGINAL! WOOOOOO HOOOOOO! I LOVE YOU! Next goal: Surpass the amount of reviews I had on the original! That's not asking too much is it? *Laughs nervously*. Anyway. This chapter might hurt a little. Sorry. aND ANOTHER THING! THIS IS A NALU STORY! *points to user-name like **_**duhhhh**_***. IT STARTED THAT WAY, IT SAYS IT IN THE SUMMARY, AND IT WILL END THAT WAY! K? K! Well I have to go order pizza now. Yay. Happy Saturday minna, I hope you enjoy this chapter!** Lucy's heart was thumping in her chest, which did nothing for the uncomfortable butterflies that were fluttering around in her insides. She just wanted it to go away. In fact, she had wanted it to go away for about a day now, a day spent sitting in her apartment after her talk with Loke thinking about what she would say. _Hey Natsu! Turns out I love you now hahah, sorry about that rejection and all. Wanna make out now by any chance?_ And Gray...Well, she would have to spend another day on that. At least. But she had to talk to Natsu, get her feelings out. Because those butterflies were getting pretty damn annoying. Yet, despite that, she was taking small, slow steps towards the guild, each of them making that uncomfortable 'sting' in her chest become worse. Even deep breaths didn't help, and deep breaths are the answer to everything. The guild came closer and closer into view, making Lucy's heart beat even faster, which she thought was impossible. But here it was, banging in her chest like no tomorrow. Eventually, she reached the guild, the tall, wooden doors looking somewhat intimidating. So she stood there, having a staring contest with the doors, thinking about how easy it would be to just go home and forget the past 4 days completely. But she forced her muscles towards the door, and she opened it. Her eyes wandered for a second, looking for pink hair that was most likely brawling with another member. Then she glanced over to the tables. The sight made her freeze. There was Natsu, his arm resting lazily on a girls shoulders, just like he always did with Lucy. A cute blush sprinkled the girls cheeks, the contrast between the paleness of her skin and hair to the pink making her seem even more beautiful than she already was. Natsu said something that made her giggle. His large grin had returned. And then the girl kissed him. Lightning bolts shot through Lucy, millions of stabs went through her chest. She knew it all along though, she knew those two had been so close. She knew it would eventually happen. But Lucy had become an okay friend with this girl, and for some reason she felt betrayed. Lissana. Lucy fought back the tears that threatened to spill, tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She turned towards the door, ready to leave. There was no way she was staying, no way she could stay. Lucy stopped fighting the tears, and she was about to dash to her apartment where she could cry all she wanted when someone called out to her. "Lucy!" She stopped abruptly and forced the tears back again before turning around and giving the red-headed woman before her an award-winning smile. The smile she used to hide her feelings the best. "You just got here, didn't you? Where are you going?" Erza said, looking down at Lucy with disapproval. Lucy gulped. She hadn't been her for 3 days straight, and now she was leaving early? Lucy knew she had to play this out well or she was screwed. "I just forgot something at my apartment," Lucy said, widening her smile. And that's what ruined it. Erza's disapproving features instantly softened before she firmly grabbed Lucy on the arm to drag her out of the guild. Lucy went limp, allowing Titania to pull her away from where those _things_ were going on. Lucy was actually kind of thankful for Erza dragging her out like she did. Even though that meant Erza had to come along and Lucy wasn't allowed any alone time, at least Lucy knew she would be able to make it out of the guild without collapsing from depression. When they finally exited the doors, Erza let go of Lucy so that she fell right onto her bottom, sending a stinging pain all around her back. And then Erza continued walking. Lucy stared in awe after the red-headed mage, before Erza turned around and said very casually. "Well, are you coming?" Lucy jumped up and scrambled towards Erza, her expectant tone running chills down Lucy's back. Lucy fell in step with Erza, limping slightly from the throbbing pain on her tailbone. The two girls walked in silence for what seemed like forever until Erza spoke up once more. "So why are you really leaving?" Lucy swallowed hard, looking away from the emotionless girl next to her. She didn't want to tell Erza, but she didn't want to lie either. The thought of Loke _and_ Erza beating Natsu senseless set waves of fear through Lucy. And it would have been all because of her. Erza stopped abruptly, a dark aura suddenly surrounding her. "Was it Gray?" Erza's expressionless face broke for a minute to look at Lucy with eyes that had concern filled to the brim. "No no no no no, it wasn't Gray…" Lucy said, slowly drifting off as her eyes, which were burning due to the tears behind them, wandered towards the canal. "It wasn't Gray at all…" Lucy let out, in more of a sigh then a voice. Erza's eyes hardened and she clenched her jaw, anger welling up inside her like never before. "Then who. Was. IT?!" Erza seethed, trying not to scream at the broken celestial mage. Lucy tried not to say anything, but she couldn't help but mumble a certain pink-haired boys name as tears started to fall from her eyes. All the tears Lucy had tried so hard to hold back. At first, Erza looked confused. Her head was cocked to the right slightly, and she looked like she was trying to solve a difficult problem. And then it hit her. Hit her like 3 million wrecking balls and a tidal wave. All features that made her appear angry disappeared in an instant, and she suddenly bowed down to Lucy, holding out her Heart Kreuz Armour's sword towards Lucy. "PUNISH ME FOR THE TROUBLE YOU WENT THROUGH!" Lucy sweat-dropped as she took a cautious step back, flushing from the whispers and stares she was receiving from the people walking by. "Eh-Erm, no, I'm okay I just-" "CUT ME IN RETRIBUTION!" "Erza, you're making a scene it's-"

"I DESERVE PUNISHMENT FOR HURTING MY BEST FRIEND!" That was it. Lucy growled in frustration, clenching her fists so tight that her nails dug into her palms. "Erza. Scarlet. Stop acting up and tell me what's wrong." Lucy seethed between her clenched teeth. Despite her vicious glare, deep down she felt like she was dying of embarrassment as the number of whispers and stares doubled after her statement. Erza relaxed a bit, dropping her sword onto the ground, but she didn't once lift up her head. Not yet, anyway. "It's my fault Natsu is with Lisanna, It's my fault you are so sad Lucy." At the mention of those two, Lucy froze. She slowly went pale, brown orbs growing wider and wider. "W-What do y-you mean E-Erza?" Lucy said, trying to control her shaking voice. But it was no use. Her words came out stuttered and scared, which was the best she could manage as she tried to hold back the burning tears that formed again. Erza continued to keep her head down, eyes shadowed by her mass of red hair. And then she started her story. "Natsu came to the guild 2 days ago looking sad and angry. I did so many things, Lucy, to cheer him up. Nothing worked." Lucy looked down, ashamed, knowing full and well that this pain was her fault. "So I figured Lisanna could cheer Natsu up, just like when they were kids. That's why they were so close this morning Lucy. It's all my fault! Is there any way you could forgive me?!" Lucy looked at Erza and swallowed back the tears that threatened to pool her eyes. She didn't speak, and tried not to think about it. But the same thought continued to return to her, the same thought she knew she had to accept. _If Natsu is happier with Lisanna, then there's no way I would rather have it._ **Sorry if this chapter was a disappointment. I'm not overly happy with it, but I wanted to get it out for you guys :). Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review, and i wILL SEE YOU NEXT TIME!** **xx**


	8. The Mission!

**You know, I promised myself I would never procrastinate again, (after yesterday when I had to get up at 5:30 to write a 2 page argumentative paper that was due last week, which by the way, 5:30 and a 2 page argumentative paper is a lot for a little middle-schooler like myself.) but hey, look it, procrastination. BUT ANYWAY, I'M BACK! Excuse the shortish, crappish chapter, Idk. I couldn't write. ALSO. I decided I'm going to start updating on Saturdays. How do dat sound loveies? Good? Okay! ALSO. To fall asleep, I tell myself stories, and thats where I come up with my fanfics basically. SO ANYWAY. I need another way to fall asleep because I keep coming up with fanfics I really want to write but I need to finish this one by February 18th (I think…) And I'm getting distracted XD. Any ideas? AND FINALLY. For anybody here who is reading one of my other stories 'The Fault in Our Fairy Tail', IM SO SO SORRY FORGIVE ME I'M BUSY! I'll have you guys know that I've wrote the last chapter last night, so I promise I haven't forgotten about you :3. OKAY! IM SORRY FOR THE LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE! THANK YOU FOR THE FOLLOWS, FAVORTIES AND REVIEWS, AND I HOPE YOU'LL ENJOY! **

"Erza! It's fine! Honestly!"

Lucy offered Erza a weak smile, which faltered drastically when Erza ignored her and continued stomping towards the guild. After telling Lucy the story, Erza exited her submissive state and started towards the guild, determined to 'make Natsu yours' as she put it. But as much as Lucy tried to stop her, from pulling at her arm like a little kid to an attempt Lucy kick to the stomach, Erza never stopped her powerful stride. But Lucy was just as determined as Erza was, even if it meant Natsu wouldn't 'be hers', she would rather him be happy more than anything. She had to return all of the happiness he had given her.

But nothing worked. In the end, Lucy ended up latching herself to Erza's leg, her left heel trying to dig into the cobblestone ground. It dragged along, making Lucy curse to herself for ruining one of her favorite pairs of boots. She had to keep Natsu happy though, she had to.

They finally arrived at the guild, Lucy at the point where she knew she couldn't stop Erza, but stayed latched to her leg nonetheless. Erza kicked open the doors, with such force that some wooden parts at the end of the doors went flying. She had just so happened to kick the doors open with the leg that Lucy was holding onto, causing Lucy to soar in the air and crash on one of the tables. Makarov, who was watching the scene unfold, slowly began to sob from the realization that he would have so many extra bills to pay because of his brats.

Erza, eyes still dead and emotionless, began stomping towards Natsu. And then he laughed. Lissana said something and Natsu laughed. Lucy shot up from the the broken table, ignoring the splinters that pierced through her skin. She lunged herself at Erza, tackling the Ex-Quip Mage so she landed on her stomach with Lucy, who was straddling the read-head by her waist but Lucy's lips were down by her ear. Lucy wasn't going to risk Natsu's happiness. There was no way. Several people stopped their conversations to see how Lucy would get murdered today. It was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

"Erza," Lucy muttered darkly, low enough that despite the quiet only Erza heard. Lucy's bone-chilling voice made even Erza shiver a little, so she stopped, and didn't even attempt to get the blond of her back. "I'm fine because Natsu is fine. Now stop."

Erza twisted uncomfortably so she could look the blond, eyes asking so many questions it seemed impossible. But then she nodded her head in understanding, before going limp so Lucy could get off her back with ease. Erza stood alongside Lucy, everyone, unaware of their little 'conversation', continued to wait for the sure-to-come fight. But Erza just dusted the 'dust' off of her shoulders, and stated loudly and confidently,

"That was a very honorable thing for you to do, Lucy," before strutting off towards Mira so she could get a strawberry cake. Everyone stared at Lucy, not including a certain salmon-haired mage, who refused to look at the blond. And yes, Lucy noticed it. But the silence was suddenly cut off as the guild members continued on as if nothing happened. Lucy longingly glanced once more at the table which held the boy she had been so unfair to. And then she decided, right then and there, although she might not have Natsu as her boyfriend, that didn't mean she couldn't attempt to be friends with him. So, forcing her refusing muscles towards the pink-haired man, started to go over to the table where he sat. Through-out this, she was completely unaware of a figure slipping through the guild doors, striding confidently but quietly towards the blond-haired girl.

Suddenly, all Lucy could see was black.

"Guess who?" The source of the hands that covered her eyes whispered. Lucy blinked twice, kind of enjoying the funny feeling of her eyelashes brushing against the cold fingers that blocked her eyesight.

"Well it couldn't be Gray…" She muttered, forcing out a bubbly giggle. The man uncovered her eyes and twirled her around to reveal, you guessed it, Gray. He swooped down and pressed his lips gently against hers, trying not to get too 'intimate' in front of everybody. "You're a bad guesser," He hummed against her lips. Lucy smiled, pulling back slightly. She didn't want to do this. It felt unfair to Gray. But here she was, still talking as if they were a happy couple. "But you love me anyway," she mumbled.

_At least ½ is a happy couple_, she muttered to silently to herself. Gray pulled away slowly, to look at her face. And something was off. It wasn't that she looked ugly, no, she always looked beautiful, but something wasn't...right. He cocked his head slightly, to see if the angle made her look any different, but nope. She still looked off.

"Are you okay Lucy?" He asked, keeping his head to the side. She smiled at him, hoping that he wasn't as observant as Erza. "Yeah," she said cheerfully, praying to Mavis that her voice didn't betray her. He looked at her for one more second before shrugging and pulling something a piece of paper out of his pocket. He handed the paper to her and she took it, and he started explaining.

"It's been awhile since we've gone on a mission, so I figured you'd need the rent money," Lucy's eyes wandered down to the reward, before bulging out of her sockets.

"15,000,000 JEWEL!?" Lucy yelled. Gray laughed at her frantically surprised expression.

"WHERE DID YOU FIND A MISSION LIKE THIS THAT WASN'T S-" She stopped, her eyes finally seeing the big sticker on the front yelling out to her, 'S-Class!'.

"But...How…" She murmured, more to herself than Gray. Gray scratched the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly.

"Well, you need the money, so I asked Erza to come along-" Oh, well that explained it. "-And Erza invited retard because, well, why not the entire team-" Lucy sighed. The one thing she was hoping wouldn't happen with all her heart. She wanted to be friends with Natsu again more than anything, of course, but she didn't think they were at the point where they could go on a mission just yet. "-And for some reason Juvia is coming along, too." Gray stated, grin vanishing as he shrugged. He continued to talk about the mission, but Lucy zoned out, thinking about what problems it would bring them. _Oh well. _She thought to herself. _Who knows? It might be kind of fun. _

**AND WE WILL STOP THERE! 2 MORE CHAPPIES TO GO AND I. AM. FINISHED WITH **_**DIFFICULT LOVE. THEN I CAN MOVE ON TO THE SEQUEL! ANY IDEAS? CUZ IDK. HELP ME OUT, AND I JUST MIGHT PICK YOUR IDEA WHO KNOWS HA HA! OKAY. I'M DONE RANTING. ENJOY YOUR SATURDAY, DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW, FAVORITE, AND REVIEW, AND I WILL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!**_


	9. Introducing Hakai! :3

**Hey guys, procrastination here! OKAY. Is it just me or does Natsu with long hair in chapter 419 kinda look like that God Slayer in the Grimior Heart Arc? Just me? Okay. But here we are, the second to last chapter! Blood sweat and tears guys, blood sweat and tears all for you. I think that deserves some more reviews… *nudge nudge wink wink*. OKAY. THATS IT. THANK YOU FOR THE FOLLOWS FAVORITES AND REVIEWS AND I WILL SEE YOU NEXT TIME FOR THE LAST CHAPTER!**

Deadly silence hung in the air as the group walked to the station. The only sound that could be heard was the squealing coming from Erza's cart which held her pounds of luggage. But even the annoying squeak couldn't be heard as everyone tried to focus on not being swallowed by the intense atmosphere. Despite the intense, even scary, aura that floated through the air, everyone but Natsu and Lucy tried to break the ice. Tried to say something. But that just resulted in everyone falling deeper into the hole of intensity, until they were so deep they stopped talking altogether.

Lucy secretly prayed to Mavis that Natsu's motion sickness cause some of the atmosphere to vanish: to cause everyone to lighten up. But Mavis wasn't in the mood to answer her prayers. Wendy had decided to try Trovia on Natsu one last time, and it worked. Leaving Natsu to be his quiet, conscious, self.

After about three hours out of the six of non-stop silence, the train came to a halt at another town so that other passengers could leave. Gray got up to leave, making an excuse about a need of fresh air, before exiting from the silence. Juvia instantly followed him, despite his protests, and the pair left the train. Erza, eyes darting from the two mages sitting on opposite sides of the booth before getting up to get 'fresh air' as well. Before following the two other mages out of the train, she shot Lucy a look of encouragement, a hopeful gleam in her eye. This left Natsu and Lucy.

Natsu's head rested on his hand as he stared out the tiny window before him, eyes following the poofy clouds. Lucy sat with her back straight as if she were eating dinner with her father all those years ago; hands in lap, chin held high. And she stared at him, watching the smallest movements of his eyes.

She swallowed, trying to force the choked words out of her dry throat.

_It's now or never, Lucy!_

"Natsu? Erm-um- where's Happy at?" She breathed, feeling more encouraged now that she had gotten something out.

"Doing something with Carla," Natsu replied immediately, words flat and emotionless, "Now what do you really want?" His eyes shifted, onyx meeting brown. Lucy's eyes widened. Half because he was actually talking to her, and half because of how the words were said: hurt, angry. Natsu's emotionless eyes wandered back to the window, following the clouds once more. _So he can't even look at me. _She thought to herself, hurt pounding in her chest. But she swallowed, words lacing together to form sentences, ready to burst behind her mouth.

"I understand that you were hurt, and I never meant to do that to you! I was confused, scared, upset… I didn't know what to do. My situation was… Difficult. But please, Natsu! I..I…" _C'mon, Lucy! Get it out!_ "Really...Um...Miss you as a friend!" _Damn it! _Lucy swore to herself. That wasn't what she wanted to say at all! Natsu looked at her again, and for a second, his anger faltered. Looking at her, pain all over her face, made him want to tackle her in a warm embrace, and hold her tight, running his hand down her silky hair. He wanted to feel her arms encircle around his waist, resting her head in the crook of his neck. He wanted to feel her gentle, soothing touch against his back, the touch that would make him want to give the world to her. But only for a second. Then, his softened features hardened and he forced himself to get rid of those thoughts look away. He was angry with her. He loved Lisanna.

"I'm not sure if I can forgive you."

It took Lucy a moment to process what he had said. But when she finally heard the words, they shot her like a lightening bolt. Natsu declining her love confession would've been fine, but rejecting her as a friend? Tears burned in Lucy's throat, and Natsu could smell it. He clenched his teeth to stop himself from doing what he had day dreamed of a few seconds ago.

"N… Natsu…" Lucy croaked, tears pooling in her big doe eyes. Natsu swallowed, trying not to think about the tears. Her tears.

Lucy sucked in her bottom lip and sank her teeth into the soft skin in order to keep in the tears that threatened to fall. She couldn't allow this. There was no way. After all he had done for her, after all the things they had gone through, there was no way they were going to leave this train strangers. She had to get this settled, now.

"I know what I did was wrong, but I refuse to let our friendship disappear because of one stupid thing I did! We've been through so much together, you're my best friend and… And I don't want to go through my life knowing that you won't be my friend any longer!" Lucy snapped, tears cascading down her face. Many of the passengers turned to look at the two, quietly whispering to themselves. But Lucy ignored them and continued to bore her wet eyes into the back of Natsu's head.

"Natsu… Please…"

The salty smell of tears filled up Natsu's nose, distracting him from his anger again. He wanted to forgive her. Then he would be able to break into her apartment, feel her kick that was like a welcome to him now, and then end up cuddling with Lucy anyway in her soft bed. Natsu turned to her, an intense look being shared between the two of them. He opened his mouth slowly, and then closed it. And then opened it again, forcing words out of his dry throat.

"Luce...I-"

"We're Back!" Gray exclaimed, Juvia staring at him with pink hearts taking up her blue eyes. Erza strutted in not long after the final call before the train was to be started again. Her eye's met Lucy's, a small conversation playing between the females' gaze. And then Lucy shook her head, her dried tears giving her face a stiff feel. She bit her lip again, trying to stop the heavy tears that had formed behind her eyes again as the thought crossed her mind. She had failed.

.~*~.~*~.

The train stopped at a small town about 5 miles away from their destination. Due to all of the murders and robberies, everyone that was left had to be evacuated and all roads and tracks to the town were closed off. So Team Natsu was forced to walk to the town, shoes filing with the sandy gravel that crunched as they walked.

Again, all that met them was silence, but there was no happy chatter of people around them to fill the blanks, and the squealing from Erza's cart stopped. It felt unnerving and frightening, and eerie purple and green tint to the darkening sky did nothing to make any of the mages feel more comfortable.

The team was finally able to make out a small town in the horizon, causing them to quicken their step. They finally reached it as the shadows were growing so big they looked like nothing. Erza lead them through the town, the silence of it so deafening it felt strange that there were no tumble weeds floating about. As they were walking, a sudden loud crash came from an alleyway to their right. Everyone jumped at the sudden noise before running towards it.

The alley was pretty big, three people were able to stand side by side, with some space in between them. Erza, who was walking ahead of everyone, held up her hand in signal to stop. So they did, eyes wandering around the brick walls.

"WATCH OUT!" The suddenly tense red-head screamed as she pulled out her Heart Kruz sword. Everyone but Erza ducked and covered their head as Erza deflected a strange purple substance that shot towards them like a bullet. Erza clenched her teeth, continuing to hold her sword up to the place where she had deflected the 'dagger'. A cackle came from what seemed like everywhere, causing Erza to bite down harder on her teeth.

"COME OUT YOU FIEND!" Erza yelled farther into the alley. Slow, patient steps answered, along with more laughing. A man-like shape formed in the shadows. Nobody could see his face.

"Not too bad… This should be… Exciting." The shadowed man stated, a sinister smile smile suddenly visible. He took one more step towards them, the almost completely set sun shining on him. The man was tall and thin, with a pale complexion that battled with his black hair. But the thing that stood out the most was his purple eyes, which seemed to be swirling and dancing with dark amusement. He wore a dark cloak that fell a little past his knees, and the kind of trousers a man of the power that Lucy's passed father would've worn before his money loss. Lucy assumed that this man was very likely the powerful mage they were after, and if it wasn't for the creepy smile and the fact that he was trying to kill them, she would find him attractive.

Natsu, suddenly being his reckless self again, started to dash towards him, fists encircled in flames.

"FIGHT ME YOU-" Natsu suddenly froze, one foot still in the air and flamed hands raised, ready for a punch. His eyes widened as he tried to escape his predicament, but he was frozen. Then his flame went out with a swoosh. After everyone processed what happened, being Fairy Tail, they started to dash towards the figure as well. But they met the same fate as Natsu: frozen and terrified.

The man watched the group with a sickening amusement, eyes scanning all of their frozen faces. He paced back and forth in the alley, looking at them. He suddenly stopped, a mock apologetic look plastered on his face.

"Please forgive me for forgetting to introduce myself, but my name is Hakai, the Fear mage." He bowed at them, and upon returning, he held that smile again.

And then he continued. "I use the lost magic, Fear. I am able to manipulate one by filling them with it. It's quite simple, really." Hakai continued to pace around, eyes drinking in Team Natsu one by one. "I am able to take the emotion and turn it into a weapon." He smiled at them. "This shall be a fun game to play, Fairy Tail." He walked slowly towards Juvia, purple eyes locked on her blue ones. Hakai reached out one of his slender fingers and he ran it gently down Juvia's cheek. "A very fun game."

"Keep your hands off of her!" Gray yelled, anger evident in his cold eyes. Hakai turned towards him, cocking his head at the raven haired mage.

"Feisty, aren't we, Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail?" Gray's eyes widened, terrified that this man knew his name. Everyone was terrified. Hakai grinned at their expressions before glancing down at a watch on his left wrist.

"It would seem it is time for me to take my leave now, Fairy Tail. I have a feeling we will be meeting again _very_ soon." And with that, Hakai disappeared, like he became a shadow himself.

The second he left, everyone unfroze, and Erza was ready. She stood in front of the group before her, sword pointing to the ground.

"This may be a game to him, but it isn't to us. Now that we know his magic, we also know his weakness: you must not fear. You will make it out of here alive, and he will not hurt you, so there is nothing to fear. Since there seems to be only one man, we will split off into groups: It seems unnecessary for everyone to go together. Natsu and Gray, head east. Juvia and Lucy, head North. I will handle the South and West. There is no time to waste: GO!"

Everyone dashed off in their direction as the sun finally dipped into it's starry pool. As Juvia and Lucy ran, Lucy noted how unnaturally dark it had become. She was unable to see anything, so the only comfort she had was the sound of Juvia's feet running against the cobblestone alongside Lucy. Suddenly, a weird, dark presence surrounded them. Both girls slid to a stop, fear rising in both of their chests.

Remembering what Erza had said, she groped for Juvia in the darkness for reassurance, and so she wouldn't feel this fear any longer. Lucy finally felt skin against her hand, allowing her to let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay Juvia?" _silence. _"Juvia?"

A lightning bolt flashed in the distance, the light revealing a pale Juvia on the ground, whose arm was taking on a purple tint. Lucy eyes turned, heart thumping in her chest, to see who the owner of the shoulder she was touching was. Her eyes met a purple-eyed man with that sinister smile taking up half his face.

"Hello there, Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail."

Lucy tried to scream, but no sound came from her dry throat. A cold sweat formed on the back of her neck as Hakai's smile grew wider.

"I'm sorry your...Friend, Juvia, couldn't join us." He said, a smirk replacing his smile. Lucy could feel tears forming behind her eyes. Juvia was most likely dead, and she was staring her death bed right in the face. As those thoughts crossed her mind, she couldn't stop the terror run through her veins like blood. She was frozen. But despite the cold, prickling feeling that was stealing her voice, she was able to scream out one word.

"NATSUUUU!"

Hakai grinned. But not in the happy, adorable way Natsu did: But with sharp points and evil eyes.

"You honestly think he'll come for you? After all you did to him?" Lucy froze, eyes widening significantly.

"H-How did you know about…" She whispered, unable to finish her sentence. Hakai's evil smile grew wider making his pointy teeth look extremely menacing. He reached out his pale hand, brushing it softly against Lucy's cheek, which was trembling like the rest of her.

"I make sure to do my research," He said softly. Lucy swallowed, tears filling up her eyes. She was going to die. She wasn't going to make it.

"He'll come for me!" She shot at him, trying to sound confident. But, to her dismay, Lucy's words came out with a waver. A scared, scared waver. "He always does." She whispered, eyes turning down towards the cold ground.

Hakai stared at her for a second, before bursting into hysterical cackles.

"Then lets make sure-" He sputtered in between his laughter, "That he has nothing to come for." Hakai's purple eyes began to glow bright against the dark night, a crazed hysteria dancing about them. He continued to laugh, but he stayed still, causing the sound to sound more and more sinister. His hand began to glow as well, while a red-purple substance that matched his eyes began to form in a dagger shape.

_Death_. Was all Lucy could think of as she stared in horror at the insane man in front of her. Then he shot the purple dagger at Lucy, palm facing towards her. It sliced through her stomach, causing Lucy to cough up her blood across the cobblestone floor. She sunk to her knees on the cold ground, continuing to hack her blood, which now held a purple tint. Hakai sat in front of her, absorbing her blood in his pants, cocking his head so it was completely sideways.

"Night, Night, Lucy Heartifilia. Sweet Dreams." He muttered, the horrid laugh begging to escape his thin lips again. Lucy fell onto her side, unable to stay up any longer. And that's when she saw him. Anger flowing into the flames the licked his body, eyes full of hatred locked on one target.

"Natsu…" Lucy hoarsely coughed out, eyes blurring as she smiled softly at the man who was running desperately towards her.

"LUCY!" He screamed back.

"JUVIA!" Gray screamed not long after Natsu.

"Natsu...I…I...L-Love…" Lucy tried to get out, but she couldn't, her voice didn't come. "GOD DAMN IT, LUCYYYY!" Natsu shouted at her. Those were the last words she heard before the blur turned to black as she fell into a dark unconsciousness.

**Do you hate me? YES YOU DO! *shakes booty everywhere.* I should probably go do homework now… OKAY! DONT FORGET TO FOLLOW FAVORITE AND REVIEW AND I WILL SEE YOU NEXT TIME!**

**xx**


	10. The End is also the Beginning

**Already kiddies! Final chappie! Ily all sooooo much, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I finished it on Valentines Day for a reason :3. (Definitely not because I'm baeless and I needed to do something after I ate through all the chocolate alone.) THANK YOU FOR THE FOLLOWS, FAVORITES, AND REVIEWS, AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER ILY AND ILLLLL SEE YOU LATER! **

Complete nothingness surrounded Lucy. It was nothing like what she imagined nothingness to be though. Where she expected a white space where she was floating around, she was giving complete black.

_Am I dead?_ She thought to herself as she tried to recall what had happened to her. _No._ Lucy reasoned with herself. She could still feel a horrible sting all through-out her body, but the most pain was located in her stomach. Lucy tried to remember. Remember why she felt this pain, why she was staring into nothing but she was conscious. But nothing came to her. All she could remember was boldness of Natsu's words, the scared worry that laced them as they rang about her head.

_GOD DAMN IT! LUCY!_

She would've smiled, if it wasn't for the heaviness of the muscles that was holding it down. Natsu still came for her, just like he always did. She wanted to dance and sing and scream and shout, but she couldn't. No matter how much her arms tried to move in a happy sway, they stayed still, frozen, limp, causing the urge for that happy sway to vanish.

_Maybe I am dead, maybe this is like, post-dead pain or something._ But how did she die? What happened? These thoughts caused her to feel worn out, and she felt herself fall from a dark consciousness to black sleep.

.~*~.~*~.

Lucy woke back into blackness at the sound of someone's voice. She was unsure who it was, or even what they were saying, but someone was saying something, mumbling, she was sure of it. As Lucy felt the sleep leave her, the words became louder, more understandable.

"_You have to hang in there Lucy, you and Juvia both," _The voice said. It was a girl, Lucy was sure of it. But who? "_Stay strong, okay? That's all I can ask for right now." _The girl whispered. So she wasn't dead, she was sure of it now. Just… Sleeping. But no, she was awake, she was able to hear this girl, wasn't she? The girl spoke again, snapping Lucy out of her thoughts.

"_I wish I had been there," _The girl let out a little laugh, the sound of water falling into a cool, clear stream, "_Gray said that Hakai guy was lucky to be alive after Natsu got his hands on him… He went insane after seeing you on the ground, looking dead. You guys really care about each other, it's funny how you guys can't see it." _She stated, her voice small soft and frail.

And that's when Lucy's memories came in like one of Aquarius' waves. The mission. Hakai. Juvia. Their 'death'. _Natsu had come to save me, _Lucy thought. _And that girl, it must be Wendy! _Lucy wanted to jump up, scream, tell everyone that she was alright. But she was frozen, her limbs too heavy to lift.

"_Of course, Gray got his fair share of beating on Hakai too… He must've realized how much he cared for Juvia, seeing her look just as dead as you did. In fact, he's almost been coming in to see her as much as Natsu has been coming in to see you." _Wendy stated, a thoughtful tone etched in her voice.

Lucy tried to smile again at the thought of Natsu seeing her. A lot, even. But she lay there silently, no movement, no smile. The tiring attempt made Lucy tired again, forcing her to fall into blackness.

.~*~.~*~.

"_And they all lived happily ever after...The End." Mommy stated, closing the big book with a thud. She smiled down at me, just like every other time she finished that book. I jumped from her lap and began twirling about, grass tickling the bottom of my bare feet. I day dreamed of the story, where it wasn't the prince who saved the princess from the dragon, but the dragon who saved the princess from the prince. The dragon turned out to actually be a cursed prince, and the two fell in love, willing to do anything so that they could be together. This story has been my favorite ever since Mommy first read it to me. It is her favorite, too._

"_The irony of it all… This one is special, Lucy, just like you baby." _

_A sudden thought struck me, as I was twirling under the large sycamore it came to me, making my eyes widen in excitement. I looked behind my shoulder so I could see Mommy, who was sitting lazily under the tree against the trunk, smiling at me. _

"_Mommy?" I whispered, trying to contain the giddy feeling by smiling and sticking my tongue in the gap where my two front teeth were two days ago ._

_She hummed in return, smile still resting on her fair skin._

"_Are princes real?" _

_Mommy laughed, the bubbly sound flowing with the cool spring breeze. "They may not all live in castles or ride off in the sunset, but they're real, baby, that's for sure." My eyes widened at the thought of marrying a prince, a strong, loyal, handsome, prince, all for my own._

"_I bet you'll find one, my little princess."_

_I grinned and started twirling again, the sound of my blond pigtails swishing filling up my ears. A prince! One just like the dragon in the story, I hope. One that despite his problems, he would still look at me with the same love in his eyes as the dragon did to the princess…_

_Laughter bubbled out of my throat as I grew more and more dizzy._

"_I bet he'll be be brave, strong, just perfect Mommy, I know it!" I collapsed back into her lap, the world spinning in circles around me. Mommy giggled, twirling my hair in her fingers. "I bet he will, pumpk'n…." Mommy whispered as I rested my head on her chest. _

_We lazed there silently, watching the cotton-candy clouds drift through the blue sky. My eyes slowly began to droop, before I fell into a happy sleep, full of dreams filled with dragon princes and flaming hair…_

_.~*~.~*~._

Lucy felt herself wake again into darkness. Pain still flowed through her body, but she felt warm and cozy, making her want to fall asleep again, be inside that hazy dream that came from a memory of her childhood. That was, until she heard a very familiar voice speak softly to her.

"_God damnit Lucy…_" Natsu whispered, a warmth that Lucy assumed was his hand covered her own.

"_I...I'm so sorry Luce. For the things that I said, for not getting there quick enough. For all we know, I could be the reason that you…" _Natsu's voice caught in his throat, and his hand tightened around Lucy's. "_Die." _Lucy wanted to wake up, hug him, tell him that she was alright, that she wasn't going to die, that it wasn't his fault. But she was frozen, stuck in the darkness to tear up in her own self pity.

"_The thing is… You can't! You can't die! I won't let you!" _He yelled at her like a little kid, "_If you fucking...die, I don't know how I will live with myself. Because… Because seeing you on the ground, back there in Nanamake... _**(A/N: Sorry to kinda ruin this tearful talk, but Nanamake is what I named the town where they met Hakai. You probably could have inferred that, but hey, here ya go. Continue!) **_When I thought you were dead… I realized that… that… I have and always will love you! And… Damn it Lucy! I need you!" _Natsu choked out, words cracking and breaking. And then Lucy felt something. A cool liquid falling in drops like rain on to her arm. _No… _Lucy thought to herself, _Natsu isn't… Crying?_ Yet, just like rain, the pace of the water drops began to escalate, and Lucy could make out Natsu stifling sobs.

No thoughts entered Lucy's brain. It was frozen, just like all of her muscles. And then sudden, strong love, stronger than she had ever felt before, bloomed for the man that had saved her countless times, the man who kept her warm at night, the man who was crying for her. Lucy wanted to move. She wanted to touch his skin, look into his eyes, feel his soft pink hair. She wanted to be with him. And she tried. She tried to move, to wake up, but it left her feeling even more tired than before. Her eyes began heavy, making it harder and harder to stay awake. And then warmth spread across her entire body, making it impossible for her to stay awake.

.~*~.~*~.

Light flooded Lucy's eyes, causing her hand to instinctively fly to the brown orbs. She moaned at the throbbing pain behind her eyelids, and tried to blink to get rid of it. And then she froze, realizing that her hand was resting over her eyes, the eyes that had been filled with a color other than black.

Her hand flew off her face, causing the stinging to return to her adjusting eyes. But she didn't care. She accepted the pain with open arms as she tried to get used to the light that was blinding her. Lucy rubbed her eyes, allowing her to see her surroundings despite the colorful sun spots that dotted around her eyesight. When she finally was able to see completely, she looked around and took in everything. The white walls and sheets, the color of the sun stating that it was about 10 in the morning. Everything.

Unable to share this with herself any longer, she threw the white sheets off her body and hopped out of bed. Or, at least tried to. But the second her bare feet touched the ground, her wobbly legs failed her and she collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Footsteps could be heard running up the stairs, and quiet mumbles between two people were also audible.

"_Did you hear that bang?"_

"_Of course! Do you suppose someone has woken up?"_

"_Maybe it's Juvia, Lucy's not supposed to wake up for another few hours…"_

The door to the infirmary swung open, revealing Wendy and Carla. Both of their eyes widened in surprise when they saw Lucy on the ground, looking at them with her doe eyes open.

"Lucy!"

"Why, welcome back-"

"Everyone at the guild will be so excited-"

"How fantastic it is to see you awake-"

"Hey, Um, guys?" Lucy interrupted in a raspy voice, due to the fact that she hadn't spoken for a week. The two shut up, listening to see what she had to say. "I'm kinda stuck. So if you could help me up, that would be fantastic." She muttered as sarcastically as she could with her scratchy throat.

"Of course, of course, how rude of us-"

"I should probably check to make sure everythings alright, you were supposed to have another day of sleep-"

"Wendy, you take the legs and I'll take the head."

"Right!" Wendy replied with determination as she dashed over to pick up Lucy.

"The guild will be so happy to see you awake, they've been a worried mess, especially Natsu…" Wendy stopped abruptly just as she had finally lifted Lucy's legs. She dropped Lucy's legs in her frozen state that landed with a thud. "NATSU!" Wendy squeaked as she started running towards the door. "I have to tell Natsu!" She yelled as she slammed shut the door.

Lucy sweat dropped and Carla tched, shaking her head while muttering something about 'unthoughtful child.' Carla's wings appeared, and she picked up Lucy by her gown. "Please excuse Wendy, she's a bit… Excited." Carla gently placed Lucy back onto the bed, and huffed. She landed back on her feet and started walking out the door. But before she left, Carla turned to Lucy, and gave her a smile.

"It's great to see you healthy, Lucy." Carla said before she walked out the door and slammed it. Lucy lay in her position for a second, staring at the ceiling, before she turned her head to see Juvia's blue eyes staring at her.

Lucy quietly screeched, and practically jumped right out of bed again. She took deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart, that the not-so-sleeping Juvia had caused.

"Juvia is terribly sorry, she just found Lucy falling out of bed… Amusing." Lucy took one more deep breath, and then she smiled. Everything was going to be okay.

Suddenly, the door to the infirmary slammed open, to reveal Natsu, Gray, Wendy, Carla, and Makarov. Natsu and Gray skidded in, Gray dashing to Juvia, and Natsu pouncing on Lucy. He wrapped his arms around her neck, to the point where she couldn't breath. His ragged breath filled her ears, and she could feel his fists tighten behind her head.

"Don't...EVER... Fucking...Do...That….AGAIN!" He whispered angrily in her ear, the words suggesting that his teeth were clenched. Master tutted, waving his index finger at Natsu.

"No swearing brat," Master smiled at Juvia and Lucy, "Today is a happy day." Lucy smiled back as Natsu reluctantly released his grip around her. She tilted her head towards Juvia. Gray was staring at Juvia with wide eyes, talking so quickly Lucy couldn't understand anything. But by Juvia's triumphant smile and constant glances towards Lucy, she knew everything.

Lucy glanced back at Natsu, who was searching her face like he was trying to solve a puzzle. Looking at that adorable expression on his face, Lucy couldn't help but burst into a fit of raspy giggles that made her throat burn, but she didn't care. "Hey, what's so funny?!" Natsu exclaimed, pouting as he searching Lucy harder. That caused Lucy to laugh even more. Seeing Natsu so much like himself made her so happy.

Lucy glanced at a leaving Wendy, Carla, and Makarov, who was shooting her a thumbs up. She looked back at Natsu as tears of happiness filled up her eyes.

"H-Hey, Lucy… Don't cry-"

"Thanks for everything Natsu." Lucy said before grabbing onto the part of his scarf that was looped around his neck and pulling him towards her. She lifted her head up, making their lips meet ever so perfectly.

.~*~.~*~.

"Well, one thing lead to another, and Daddy and I got married" Nashi's brown doe eyes widened in wonderment and excitement, "And that's how your daddy and I fell in love," Lucy sighed, showing her daughter a small smile, "The End." Her oldest who was now ten, Nashi, grinned back at her with a toothy smile that was much like her fathers. Nashi spun around, causing her thin, silky, pink pigtails to spin around in a flamboyant manner, as she laughed. Lucy laughed in return, making the one-year-old fraternal twins that she was juggling bounce slightly.

Luke, the twin who was named after Lucy due to the fact that he looked like a genderbent version of her, giggled at the movement, big brown eyes twinkling. But Igneel, who looked a lot like Natsu, just narrowed his onyx eyes.

Nashi suddenly stopped her twirling, and looked at her mother with a single raised eyebrow.

"But what about Aunt Lisanna, you can't just throw her away like that!" Nashi whimpered. Lucy bit her lip. She did forget about Lisanna. "Well, before we left for the mission, Daddy broke up with Aunt Lisanna. While we were gone, she hit it off with Bixlow, and we know how they are today." Lucy concluded, ending with a saucy wink. Nashi giggled, and continued her twirling.

Nashi smiled dreamily as she spun, clasping her hands together and pressing them against her chest. She fluttered her long eyelashes, eyes looking up dramatically towards the ceiling.

"I hope I find someone like Daddy in the future… So kind, loyal, brave… And have a story like yours too, Mommy! Full of love, complication, _sacrifice!_" Nashi concluded, a glint in her eye as she said the last word.

"Sure, but remember, no dating until your 40: Especially not with that ice prick's kid." A masculine voice stated from behind Lucy.

Natsu walked in with their middle child on his back, Collin, who was five. His long blond hair flopped as he jumped off his dad's back and ran over to his mother. Natsu also walked up behind Lucy and swung his arm over her shoulder, looking down at his boys. Lucy tried to scold her husband for swearing in front of the kids, but found herself just smiling at him.

"Yeah, no ice perrick!" Collin repeated as he jumped into his mother's full arms.

Nashi rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest, hip jotted out to one side. "Like I would go out with that bastard." Nashi muttered, a scowl twitching on her lips. "That's my girl!" Natsu shouted, pumping his fist happily in the air. Sickening thoughts of Ur Fullbuster thinking about and touching his little girl like he did with his Luce filled his mind, and he couldn't help but suddenly match his daughters scowl. But it vanished as he picked up Luke in attempt to help his wife.

Nashi's scowl also vanished as a look of realization crossed her face.

"And that's how Aunt Juvia and Uncle Gray fell in love too, right Mommy?"

Lucy nodded, looking down at Collin and Igneel who started to fall asleep, curled up in her arms.

"You guys had the best. Lives. EVER!" Nashi yelled, dancing around their living room. Both of her parents nodded, sharing a knowing smile.

"Yup, wouldn't have had it any other way."

**AND I'M DONE! I imagined Natsu and Lucy with a really big family, because that's what Natsu grew up with. I also imagined them to be that overly-intimate-in-public couple that their kids would be embarrassed of XD. But that's it. I'm going to take a veryyyy long break from this story before I get to the sequal, because my The Fault in our Fairy Tail followers deserve a long explanation and chapter. So, until we meet again, I'll see you soon loves :3 THANK YOU SO MUCH ILY!**

**xx**


	11. Book 2!

**Title: DIfficult Love 2!**

**Summary: Everyone is mostly recovered from Lucy's sudden disappearance 5 years ago, except for Natsu. Full of love and anger, he will do anything to get his wife back.**

**Pairings: NatsuxLucy, NashixNatsuxLucy Parental, CollinxNatsuxLucy Parental, IgneelxNatsuxLucy Parental, LukexNatsuxLucy Parental, Implied ErzaxJellal, Implied GajeelxLevy, Implied GrayxJuvia, Implied MiraxLaxus, Implied BixlowxLisanna, Implied RomeoxWendy, and general family and friendship feels throughout the guild.**

**A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of the second book! It was going to be a bit longer before I started this up again, but hey, here I am. So this chapter is really short, but I promise to make the next one longer :) Thank you everyone who followed favorited and reviewed the last book, it gave me motivation to start this chapter :D. I love you all, and I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters associated with it. I kinda own Collin though. A little.**

It was the day where the town of Magnolia wasn't disrupted by the loud talking and fighting of their large guild. The day where no one even tried to look for Natsu, for he disappeared to an unknown place. And the day when no one talked to Nashi or Collin Dragneel, not even their younger siblings, out of fear of being scorched by fire or boiled by hot tears. It was the 5th anniversary of Lucy Dragneel's disappearance, and what was assumed death. But Natsu, who secretly sat in the Dragneel home's attic, hadn't lost hope. As he paced the hollow floors, running his fingers along pictures of Lucy he had found, reading through every article she ever wrote, wouldn't give up. And as the sad day winded down, he would always sit by the far end of the room where he had hung up their last family photo, staring at a happy Lucy with a tiny Igneel in her arms, and would whisper to himself as hot tears threatened to fall:

"I'll find you, Luce, I promise."

.~*~.~*~.

The day after the anniversary, it was as if nothing happened. Nashi, who was now 15, would fight Ur Fullbuster with just as much energy as her best friend Gilly Redfox cheered her on. Collin would sit quietly next to Edward Fernandes and read. Igneel and Luke would run around the guild, spewing fire and practicing opening gates with the keys Lucy had given them.

But Natsu sat quietly at the guild's bar, watching his four kids. It took him about two days after the anniversary to return to his normal self, and everyone besides his children, stayed clear. His feelings for Lucy made him twice as hard to talk to during his three days of being miserable, and everyone learned that very quickly.

Natsu suddenly got up, scraping the bar's stool against the ground loudly, everyone grew silent as they watched Natsu storm out of the guild, white scarf fluttering flamboyantly behind him. Nashi stared after her dad, sinking her teeth in to her bottom lip. Collin looked in the same direction as well, before running to follow. As he ran by Nashi, she grabbed the back of his shirt, halting him to a stop.

"No," She muttered, eyes focusing on her feet, "let him be."

"But-"

"NO!" Nashi yelled, a dangerous fire in her eyes. Collin looked down, admitting defeat. "Luke, Igneel, time to go." The two boys started to protest, but instantly shut up upon looking at their sister. They nodded their heads and followed Nashi and Collin out the door, leaving the rest of the guild to stare at them in concern.

.~*~.~*~.

"Nashi?" Luke said gleefuly, looking up at his older sister as he skipped along the cobblestone path to their house. She hummed peacefully, her anger gone.

"What was mommy like?" Nashi froze, wide eyes staring into nothing.

"Luke…" Collin muttered, warning his little brother. "I thought I told you-"

"She was beautiful." Nashi interrupted, her wide eyes replaced with a happy sadness. "Even more beautiful than she was in the picture in the living room. Especially when she smiled… Really smiled. It was like she was an angel herself.

"Mommy was an amazing mage. She could call on all of the stellar spirits she had with ease. And she was so caring… And never gave up… And… And... " Nashi swallowed as thoughts of her mother came into her head. Memories. "She loved all of us very much." Collin looked down, trying to avoid the tears he could feel burning in his throat. But Luke, who had been so tiny when she had disappeared, just smiled. He grabbed Nashi's hand in one of his, and Collin's in the other. "She sounded great! I can't wait to meet her." Igneel, who was riding piggy back style on Collin's back, nodded in agreement.

"Yeah…" Nashi whispered, looking up at the setting sun as they continued their walk towards home.

**Short, I know. Just an intro I guess. I'm not really sure where I want this story to go, so I want your ideas. So review, review, review! Also, I'm thinking about having flashbacks to the night of Lucy's disappearance, is that cool? I think I'll start next chapter with one.** **Okay, that's it my loves. Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review, and I will see you next time! Au revoir!**

**xx**


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